In this episode, we talk about the Democratic filibuster and why it needs to be destroyed. We also talk about why President Trump should get rid of it and what he would do if he had the votes to do so.
00:00:56.000The Charlie Kirk Show is proudly sponsored by Preserve Gold, the leading gold and silver experts and the only precious metals company I recommend to my family, friends, and viewers.
00:01:09.000All right, welcome back to the Charlie Kirk Show.
00:01:10.000I'm Andrew Colvett, executive producer of this fine show, joined by Blake Neff.
00:01:15.000We're going to talk about the filibuster.
00:01:17.000And, you know, you know, because we've had internal debates about the pros and cons of doing it.
00:01:22.000Now, I, you know, think back to Kirsten cinema.
00:01:27.000So let's set the bigger context here because if you haven't seen it, it's that, so we have the filibuster right now.
00:01:37.000What it is is the filibuster is you can, you only need 50 votes to pass a piece of legislation, 50 plus the vice president as a tiebreaker.
00:01:45.000You only need that to pass legislation, but they have no limit on debate, basically, and you can extend debate indefinitely, and you need 60 votes to overcome for cloture, which is where they vote to end debate.
00:01:59.000Now, this has been curtailed back over time.
00:02:03.000It used to basically be you could do it on anything, and then they rolled it back for Supreme Court justices, then any judicial nominations.
00:02:15.000It's definitely been rolled back over time, but it's remained for normal legislation.
00:02:18.000You can get around it with the reconciliation, which they can do basically once or twice a year.
00:02:24.000But now, President Trump has, and as you were saying, Democrats tried to get rid of it, but they failed because cinema and manchin weren't on board with it.
00:03:04.000Like, the more time passes, the more incentive they have to do it.
00:03:07.000Because if you're a Democrat, and I think the biggest reason to be hesitant about this is I think Republicans are putting themselves in a position where they might destroy the filibuster, take all of whatever backlash there is to be had for doing that, and then not do anything with it.
00:03:23.000All they'll do is they'll end the shutdown.
00:03:55.000You could pass a new bill that has way harsher on illegal immigrants, radically curtails whatever BS rights they're being given before they're deported.
00:04:06.000You can change the balance of who we're letting in, get rid of the diversity lottery, roll back H-1Bs because we're losing our own skills in the workforce.
00:04:18.000You could mess with the college cartel.
00:04:21.000So, for example, Biden was just trying to unilaterally forgive student loans.
00:04:24.000We could do something like say, we're going to roll back student loans.
00:04:28.000By the way, what we're going to do is if you ever want to get a student loan again as a college, you have to pay into this giant fund to fund this forgiveness.
00:04:36.000We're like, hey, Harvard, if you ever want a federal grant again, you need to give us $10 billion out of your endowment to help deflate the student loan bubble.
00:04:45.000You can radically deregulate huge chunks of America so that we can build more houses, build more infrastructure, remove those barriers that have made it so hard to build things in the United States.
00:05:05.000Because it feels like this kind of came out of nowhere based on this shutdown fight, which now we find out that Sean Duffy is saying we're going to reduce air travel flights by 10% because there's staffing shortages and all kinds of stuff.
00:05:18.000But Trump is right that they are going to do this eventually.
00:07:00.000Keep in mind, everything we do will be blocked by some lower district court.
00:07:05.000So that would, honestly, if you wanted to get rid of the filibuster and, for example, do those reforms that were discussed on what lower courts can do with injunctions, I think we had Senator Leon to talk about that once.
00:07:24.000And I bet the infamous Project 2025 probably has examples of things you could do.
00:07:29.000There's certainly many ideas out there.
00:07:32.000The question is, do you have Republicans ready to pass them?
00:07:34.000And the problem is, is you have a senatorial class that's gotten very spoiled.
00:07:39.000And a line I like to tell Charlie, and I've told other people, is the filibuster does not actually protect the minority.
00:07:45.000The filibuster protects the majority from votes it doesn't want to take.
00:07:51.000And Republicans are a masterclass of that because a lot of Republicans, for example, don't want to reduce illegal immigration or legal immigration.
00:07:58.000And what they can do is they confront as, oh, I'm really concerned about lost all of my immigration stuff.
00:08:03.000Sadly, we need 60 votes to pass anything.
00:09:17.000Democrats probably will get rid of it the next time they're in power, but it will depend.
00:09:20.000What is the nature of their majority if it exists?
00:09:24.000And John also will probably take them.
00:09:29.000It will also probably take them a little bit of time to do it.
00:09:32.000And as we're learning in these admins, you know, the days and weeks that you have to actually pass things matter a lot.
00:09:38.000So if you want another example of how this party could be better, I think the House has been in recess for like 40 straight days or something like that.
00:09:44.000The House clearly just hates doing work.
00:11:45.000Freedom at charliekirk.com, freedom at charliekirk.com.
00:11:48.000think the Senate is wrong for most people want to get rid of the filibusters well I want to hear I want to hear what is the great what does the grassroots in this audience want to do do you want to nuke the filibuster do you think Trump is right or do you think it's an important institution even even if Democrats are going to do it anyway I will just remind you if they nuke it themselves and then pass radical stuff that ends up being unpopular that is a more helpful situation to us than we blew it up and they just take it down Stephen disagrees so Stephen says Andrew you are missing the point Thank you, Stephen.
00:12:18.000The Dems will do it anyway, and we will get blamed anyway, as we are being blamed right now for the shutdown.
00:12:24.000Yeah, we will have to hold the Rhinos' feet to the fire to get anything done, but at least Republicans will be able to protect themselves from the cheat that gets Dems elected in the first place.
00:12:40.000Pathetic Republican says, Richard, guys, we will never win much because the dummy will always find a way to take down the stupid Republicans.
00:12:52.000Even if they are not in power, another Trump 1.0 term, the low-life judges have taken over and eventually the Supreme Court will run the country.
00:13:47.000It was just about, it was kind of a Senate idea.
00:13:50.000I want to flag this very quickly because we just, I like to, Charlie was always good at reminding people of how insane Democrats have been.
00:13:58.000This is like a kind of obscure element, but put up the photo I sent you guys of this Angela Walker woman.
00:14:04.000In Banger, Maine, they just elected a progressive slate on the city council, and they elected Angela Walker.
00:14:10.000Angela Walker is a, by her own admission, former drug junkie.
00:14:15.000And 20 years ago, she and her brother murdered a Canadian tourist.
00:14:20.000They like stuffed sand down his throat so he would asphyxiate.
00:14:24.000And her brother got sentenced to, I think, 12 years, served five.
00:14:28.000She got sentenced to apparently time served for this for murdering a tourist because she said he called her a mean name.
00:14:35.000Apparently, they alleged, and these people always lie, so probably lied.
00:14:39.000She alleged that the guy called her a squaw, which is a slur to some in American Indian communities.
00:14:44.000And like her brother is also just this serial criminal who goes around committing tons of crimes and then accusing her.
00:15:17.000Like one is, you know, it's the exception, not the rule.
00:15:22.000But now you have two elected officials in the Democrat Party that one fetishizing about murder, the other actually did it.
00:15:29.000And so now we have a pattern of behavior where it just sort of feels like when you live in this post-sort of truth world and everything's on social media.
00:15:38.000And, you know, gosh, we're seeing it with, you know, Charlie's assassin.
00:15:43.000Like, it's like, you know, Charlie used to joke that he's like, we're all living in an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyways?
00:16:55.000It's something that you have to nourish like a flame and protect and keep because that spirit of Charlie Kirk is still alive in all of us and still alive in the country.
00:17:11.000Bible sales spiked 36% in the month of September and so many other pieces of that.
00:17:18.000President Trump walked into a catch-22 when taking office.
00:17:21.000Do nothing, and America would be staring at a ticking debt bomb, the kind of crisis that could cripple our future.
00:17:26.000Instead, he's taken action with strong policies to slow the train and buy us some time.
00:17:31.000But the effects of past administration spending are still working through the system, and experts predict dramatic price increases and market uncertainty.
00:17:39.000Trump is doing all he can, but no matter who's in office, protecting your retirement savings is ultimately up to you.
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00:18:21.000All right, welcome back to the Charlie Kirk Show.
00:18:24.000I'm Andrew Colvett, executive producer of this fine show.
00:18:27.000And I am so excited about this next guest, somebody that not too long ago, we spent some really amazing time right here in a conference room.
00:18:38.000I could walk to it in about three seconds.
00:18:40.000And that is, of course, Yael Eckstein, IFCJ Global President and CEO.
00:18:45.000That's the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
00:18:47.000Yael, welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show.
00:18:54.000Yeah, and it's the first time you've been on, obviously, since the tragic news that we got that Charlie had been taken from us and taken from this world.
00:19:03.000And when it happened, Yael, I couldn't help but recall, as I just said, that time we spent in June, so just a couple months ago, together in the conference room here in Phoenix.
00:19:18.000And it was one of the most memorable meetings that I had ever had with Charlie, as a matter of fact.
00:19:24.000And you were so sweet and you wanted to just engage in this ideas.
00:19:29.000And Charlie was riffing and he had all these thoughts.
00:19:40.000Maybe just start there and reflect on your personal friendship with Charlie and kind of what that meant and what you learned and how you're thinking about these weeks since he was taken from us.
00:20:32.000And it was incredible how suddenly he transformed into the most loving, passionate, wise kind of leader I've ever seen in my life.
00:20:43.000And I've sat with a lot of world leaders.
00:20:46.000And what I saw in him was both this humble servant heart.
00:20:51.000Of course, being that I live in Israel, I represent Israel and Jewish-Christian relations and where Jews and Christians find that common bond spiritually.
00:21:00.000I saw a spirit that was alive and in love with Israel.
00:21:04.000And he was someone who I think held such truth in the sense of he was able to be critical of policies of the Israeli government without at all being critical of Israel as the spiritual homeland.
00:21:20.000He was able to both say, this is a just war.
00:21:38.000But what I saw was he was able to recognize what Israel's going through and the complexity within it, recognizing good as good, bad as bad, and also recognizing you can have concerns and be critical of Israel without completely saying Israel doesn't have a right to exist or that the Jewish people shouldn't have a homeland or any of the other things that so many people are saying today.
00:22:00.000Man, Yao, I want to give you a compliment on this because, you know, I obviously had heard Charlie in those kind of conversations multiple times.
00:22:11.000And you just had such a sweet spirit and such a welcoming, and it was, and you could just feel that you were sincere, that you were like, please, I want to know exactly what you really think.
00:22:27.000No, and Charlie just blossomed in front of you.
00:22:29.000And that, and that's exactly like you could see just all of his like that loving nature, that kindness, and that, and, and just that earnest desire to help because he was frustrated about some things and he was frustrated about the messaging and all this stuff.
00:22:43.000It's all been very publicized, you know, at this point.
00:22:46.000But, but, like, you gave him a floor and to say all these things that he'd been keeping in his, he was thinking really deeply about for a long time.
00:22:56.000And I just loved when you got out your notebook, your notepad and you're like, can I take notes?
00:24:06.000I can disagree with you and I can love you.
00:24:08.000And what Charlie stood for was changing the world and making the world better.
00:24:11.000And he would always say what the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is doing, of feeding the hungry and clothing the naked and helping both the Jews and the Christians in Israel.
00:24:20.000We've built hospitals for the Christian community in Nazareth.
00:24:23.000We give food boxes for Christians in the Old City the same way we're feeding Jewish Holocaust survivors.
00:24:28.000We're helping persecuted Christians in Syria.
00:24:32.000We built them clinics and health clinics and distributed food boxes.
00:24:36.000And Charlie always said, like, the answer to everything is love, especially when it comes down to the Holy Land.
00:24:42.000So still on my desk, I have three pieces of paper that I have hanging up in front of my desk.
00:24:49.000One of them is those notes that I took that you're talking about, Andrew, with the seven points that Charlie says, Charlie Kirk meeting in Arizona.
00:24:57.000And even before he was assassinated, I have a list of Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer quotes, which I always want to hold in my heart.
00:25:06.000And I have a list of the five things that King Solomon prayed to God for when he became king.
00:25:12.000So that meeting was life-changing, even before he was assassinated.
00:25:16.000What company Charlie gets to keep on your wall there?
00:25:20.000I mean, that's that is, I mean, you know, and I like to say that Charlie is a modern founding father because he lived his life in such an exemplary way, in such a passionate way, that you couldn't help but be, it was just, it was contagious to be around him.
00:25:36.000You would feel his energy, like that motor was just never stopped churning.
00:25:40.000And he was always thinking creatively about how to get to the next solution and get over this current problem or whatever.
00:25:48.000And one of those problems that we talked about was the hostages.
00:25:53.000And I'll never forget, we prayed for the hostages to be released in our office here.
00:25:58.000And so, as you mentioned, October 13th, the day before Charlie would have turned 32, the hostages get released.
00:26:07.000And there's this massive, massive peace in the Middle East summit.
00:26:12.000There's this huge moment in the Knesset.
00:26:15.000And I just thought, oh, gosh, I wish Charlie could have seen this because we had been so desperate for this war to come to an end.
00:26:26.000And, you know, all like, and just hope that so many of these friction points, these tension points that we're all navigating, like maybe they could just be finally put to rest and that Israel could find peace and closure after October 7th.
00:26:41.000So I just, you know, I got to ask, what was that day like for you?
00:26:45.000Because you prayed about it with Charlie.
00:26:47.000I could tell it was like first and foremost on your heart and your mind.
00:26:51.000And that even just in June when we were meeting and how much you were thinking about it.
00:26:55.000So then you were probably in Israel when it happened.
00:26:58.000I can only imagine because you do travel back and forth a lot.
00:27:31.000And when I saw those hostages coming back into Israel after two years of living, something none of us could ever imagine, I just kept saying, Yeshua Tashemke Herife, redemption from the Lord can come in the blink of an eye.
00:27:46.000It felt like I was watching, Andrew, like the Ezekiel prophecy of the dry bones coming to life, that they really, they were like dry bones underground coming and finding life again.
00:28:35.000I mean, of all the countries that mourned Charlie's passing, I mean, I mean, second to America, I think it must have been Israel because I saw so much going on.
00:28:44.000There's so many vigils, so many mourners.
00:29:25.000And what's incredible, Andrew, is something that I didn't expect.
00:29:29.000You know, the fellowship, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews Ministry that I oversee, we've been working and supporting the families of the hostages for the past two years, being there with them, telling them Christians around the world love you and stand with you and support you.
00:29:42.000And I was sure that the survivors of this hell would come out and they would have lost all faith, that we would have to rebuild it.
00:29:49.000And they came out with faith stronger than ever.
00:29:52.000One of the hostages said, I went into the tunnels with a little bit of faith.
00:29:56.000I came out speaking to God as my best friend.
00:30:01.000There was another hostage who said, the only thing that I had was a little prayer book and I would say Psalms on repeat every day.
00:30:09.000And another hostage said, I never kept the Sabbath in my life, but in those tunnels, I kept the Sabbath and prayed out to God louder than ever before.
00:30:18.000And these were people who were starved, who were tortured, who were chained.
00:30:22.000And they were told if they convert to Islam and read from the Quran, they'll get food.
00:30:26.000And they looked at their captors and said, no way, I'm standing with the God of Israel.
00:30:32.000And so to see them walk out of that torture of two years with faith intact, it's something that I believe there's a message for all of us there, that justice was as they say.
00:31:11.000TikTok offers opportunities for respectful exchanges of ideas.
00:31:16.000And through that, opportunities for community, not to talk over each other, but to talk with each other.
00:31:21.000On TikTok, you'll find creators who teach and encourage a carpenter passing on his craft, a mom explaining how to make a budget stretch, or a gardener showing us how to bring a backyard back to life.
00:31:32.000Different stories, but the same drive, the desire to connect and to understand.
00:31:36.000That's what makes a strong community, a common desire to connect, to find a way forward through respectful dialogue, building trust and feeling heard.
00:31:43.000Freedom to speak what we know and hear each other out.
00:32:34.000And just like all the kids in Israel, when they turn 18, they join the IDF.
00:32:39.000And it's something I've been thinking about from the time my kids have been born.
00:32:42.000It's both such a privilege and blessing to be born in this generation where after 2,000 years of exile, we have the land of Israel that was prophesied in Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
00:32:54.000And we're seeing all these prophecies come to life.
00:32:57.000And it's the biggest privilege to live in this land right now.
00:33:02.000And so every kid, when they turn 18, goes and protects these borders.
00:33:06.000And so as a mother, what I've realized, Andrew, is the only thing we have in our hands, the only choice we have is are we going to pray or not?
00:33:42.000And especially when we pray for our kids, I think, you know, that's something that God puts on our hearts as parents.
00:33:48.000And we need to be faithful to that and do it a lot and get on our knees and pray for the future of our kids and future of our country and peace.
00:33:55.000Because what are we going to do if we don't have that?
00:33:57.000So I want to, so this is a remarkable stat that was just shared with me that since October 7th, the fellowship provided over $300 million in direct aid.
00:34:10.000Did I accidentally add an extra zero on there?
00:34:13.000God is so much bigger than anything we imagine.
00:34:17.000Yes, we've distributed over $300 million of life-saving aid in Israel to all communities in Israel, to the Jewish community, to the Christian community, to the Druze, to the Bedouin, even to the Muslim community in Israel.
00:34:28.000Of course, 20% of Israel's population are non-Jews.
00:34:32.000And so we distribute aid according to need, not according to religion or anything else.
00:34:37.000So, I mean, that's a huge accomplishment.
00:34:44.000But I have a question because so now that we're in peace, obviously you guys were so focused on the war effort and helping all the need that was arising out of this tumultuous situation.
00:34:57.000So now where is the focus of IFCJ going to be placed?
00:35:02.000Or is it still kind of, is there still more that we don't know about kind of going on with the in and around Gaza or with the IDF?
00:35:10.000Well, we look at the scriptures and we're told to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the poor.
00:35:15.000That's what the fellowship has been doing for over 40 years.
00:35:18.000So we're going to continue to do that.
00:35:20.000Right now, in a way, during these times of quiet, is our opportunity to be able to seed into the peace of Jerusalem, seed into bringing food and hope to the Holocaust survivors, going to the orphans and the children who have been affected and bringing them food and clothing and telling them Christians and Jews around the world stand with you.
00:35:40.000That in so many ways, Andrew, now that the war ends is when the real work begins to rebuild these communities.
00:35:47.000The fellowship just built kindergartens on the border with Gaza that were destroyed on October 7th so the kids couldn't go back to school.
00:35:56.000And so we're here in Israel planting those seeds.
00:35:59.000We built a hospital in Nazareth and we'll continue to do everything to help the people.
00:36:04.000Yeah, so I didn't mean to interrupt because I know you've probably got like a bunch of projects you could rattle off.
00:36:10.000So, but with the kibbutzes, so there was a lot.
00:36:12.000I mean, these things, these kibbutzes got totally devastated.
00:36:17.000Where are they at in rebuilding or have they have they been abandoned?
00:37:02.000There are trauma centers that there are wounded soldiers.
00:37:06.000You have a generation of 18-year-olds that are missing limbs, but they're determined to go out and work.
00:37:12.000We actually, we had one man who we brought from the former Soviet Union and Aliyah, this biblical prophecy coming to fruition of the ingathering of the people.
00:37:21.000And he came from this biblical land of the north with the fellowship to Israel.
00:37:24.000And he ended up joining the IDF as a lone soldier.
00:37:28.000He was injured by terrorists that they threw an anti-tank missile at his tank, and he lost his leg.
00:37:36.000But he's now volunteering with the fellowship, distributing food boxes to elderly.
00:37:40.000And he even learned how to ride a handicapped bike and is competing on behalf of the state of Israel in the competitions for handicapped.
00:37:51.000So we are seeing a resilience that I couldn't even imagine before October 7th.
00:37:57.000And the fellowship is there both to give hope and strengthen.
00:38:22.000Well, I pray for America every single day.
00:38:24.000I believe a strong America is a strong world.
00:38:27.000I pray for the peace of Jerusalem, just as the scriptures tell us.
00:38:30.000And I believe that with a strong America and a strong and unified Israel, we'll be able to see more countries join the historic Abraham Accords.
00:38:39.000This is something that I believe is blessed in the eyes of God that's possible.
00:38:43.000And we have to believe that light always overcomes the darkness.
00:38:47.000We've seen darkness and now it's time for light.